1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure generally relates to cutlery implements and knife blocks and more particularly to a knife block with a storage slot having a sharpener positioned to contact a knife blade stored in the storage slot.
2. Description of Related Art
Knives of many types are well known and typically have a blade with a cutting edge along at least one edge of the blade. The cutting edge of the knife blade on most knives becomes dull over time and as a result of using the knife Dulling of the cutting edge may result from a wide range of use conditions. For example, the cutting edge of a knife blade may become dull through improper use, such as by using the knife to cut objects on hard surfaces such as glass cutting boards or granite counter tops. Also, a cutting edge of a knife blade may become dull simply through normal wear from everyday use of the knife.
In order to maintain the cutting edge on most knives, the blade must be sharpened periodically. How often one sharpens the blade, i.e., sharpening frequency, depends on when the user recognizes that it is time to sharpen the blade and whether the user remembers or bothers to take the time to do so. This can be problematic because some users will not take the time to sharpen a blade even when they do recognize the need. Other users may not even recognize the need to sharpen a blade and thus will not do so.
A further problem is that many users will use improper technique when sharpening a knife. Some users may not know the proper techniques or may not know the proper tools to use for sharpening a knife, may not have the proper tools available in order to properly sharpen a knife, or both. Other users may know the proper tools to use, may have them at hand, and may even know the proper techniques. However, many of these users may not have the patience or the skill necessary to properly sharpen a knife. The most common method of maintaining a cutting edge on a knife blade is to use honing steel to “hone” the knife edge. Honing essentially just realigns the very tip of the edge at a very small scale to improve cutting ability. Sharpening removes material to put a new edge on the knife. Honing a knife edge using honing steel still requires that the user recognizes when to hone a knife, remembers to hone the knife blade cutting edge, and does so properly. If the user does not recognize when to hone a blade, does not remember to do so, does so too infrequently, or does so improperly, the user can damage the cutting edge and the knife blade. The same is true for sharpening a knife blade.
Commonly known methods that have been devised to address these problems also have their own disadvantages. Some cutlery sets include a product that utilizes honing steel and that is provided with the set. This is a particularly common solution and many cutlery sets include a knife block, a set of knives, and a removable, elongate honing steel element. The honing steel is often provided with its own storage slot in the block. However, this method relies heavily on the consumer or end user with regard to frequency of honing and the technique used. This also does not sharpen the blade. Many users do not know how to hone a knife blade using a piece of honing steel, much less how to sharpen the blade using other techniques, and many also may not have the skill necessary to do so properly. As noted above, honing a cutting edge of a knife blade does not technically sharpen the cutting edge. Instead, the technique primarily is just used as a technique to re-align or straighten the cutting edge of the knife.
Others have developed off-the-shelf sharpeners for sharpening the cutting edge of knives. The end user must typically purchase the sharpener because this type of product does not come with the knife set or the cutlery set. Many of these types of sharpeners utilize both a carbide sharpener and a ceramic sharpener. The user is supposed to first use the carbide sharpener, which is the more aggressive of the two sharpeners, and then finish using the ceramic sharpener. However, these sharpeners again require that the user remember to sharpen the knife and to know how to use the product. This product may, however, reduce the possibility that the user employs improper technique. These types of sharpeners are typically sold independent of the knives that are ultimately to be sharpened. Thus, it sometimes occurs that the user purchases a sharpener that is a mismatch for their knives, i.e., a mismatch in the angles of the sharpener elements compared to the angles on the blades of the knives themselves. Electric versions of these types of sharpeners also exist in the marketplace, but the same problems still arise.
Others take their knives to a trained professional for sharpening. This technique requires the user to take or send their knives to the professional. A professional may use the above methods, devices, and techniques, but should do so properly. However, this still requires the user to know or decide when to have their knives sharpened and requires the extra effort to get the knives to the professional. Having a professional sharpen one's knives is also typically quite costly. The cost may inhibit the user from having their knives sharpened when it would otherwise be the right time to do so. The cost can be prohibitive because many professionals still sharpen knives by hand on a belt or rotary sander, which is akin to the processes used to originally manufacture the knife. Such time consuming skilled labor is often quite expensive. Most users will not have their knives professionally sharpened at all, or will do so only very infrequently because of the necessary time and expense.
Some cutlery sets have been produced that have a knife block and one dedicated sharpening slot in the block. The sharpening slot is not used to house or store a knife. Instead, when a user decides that a knife should be sharpened, the user then takes the knife, inserts it into the sharpening slot, and moves the knife back and forth across the sharpener in the sharpening slot. This method still relies on the consumer or user to determine when to sharpen a knife and then to remember to do so. The typical sharpening slot on these types of products is also a one-size-fits-all slot for the entire set of knives provided with the knife block. The slot must be sized to fit the largest knife in the set. This can make the sharpener less than optimal for sharpening the smaller knives in the set and can make the sharpener less than optimal for even the larger knives of the cutlery set.